Edward Francis (1872-1957) graduated from Ohio State with a B.Sc. in 1894, and from the University of Cincinnati with an M.D. in 1897. After an internship at Cincinnati General Hospital, he was commissioned Assistant Surgeon in the U.S. Marine Hospital Service (now the U.S. Public Health Service.) He became Surgeon in 1912, and Medical Director in 1930, retiring from that position in 1937.

Francis traveled widely through the U.S. for the Public Health Service, performing duties in immigration, quarantine, hospitals, epidemics and scientific research. His main area of research was Tularemia (of which he is considered the principal investigator), but he worked on many other infectious diseases, four of which he contracted during his investigations: tularemia, brucellosis, psittacosis and relapsing fever. He recovered from all these infections.

This collection consists of material collected by Dr. Susan Rockwood of Miami University of Ohio, who was working on a biography of Francis at the time of her death in 1983. The finding aid was prepared by Helen Zilinskas, and updated by Jeff Karr. Please contact ASM Archivist for further information.